It was a windy Friday morning at the Brisbane Marina, with 30 MPH northwest winds and choppy conditions. When boater Scott Wall arrived at the south end of the Marina that morning, he saw Marina Director Randy Breault and Lead Marina Maintenance Worker Dolan Shoblo monitoring the water with binoculars. Scott looked towards Oyster Point and saw what they were observing – a sailboat was pitching up and down with the heavy wave action, and appeared to be in imminent danger of losing its anchor, which would have resulted in it being pushed towards certain destruction against the Oyster Point break wall. However, Harbormaster Michael Hahn, Marina Maintenance Worker Chris Redfield, and Marina tenant/good samaritan Michael Lael were already deployed on the Marina’s boat and enroute to the vessel in distress. Being a very experienced sailor, Michael was able to transfer from the marina boat to the distressed vessel, and assist that captain with receipt of a tow line and management of the sailboat’s anchor lines. The Marina boat was then able to tow the sailboat safely back to safe harbor in our Marina. Thanks to the quick work of the Marina staff and fellow boaters that helped with the morning rescue, this sailboat and her crew survived to sail another day.

Enjoy additional pictures of the resuce below, which were captured by Scott Wall.

UPDATE: 12/9/2016 - The Council listened to all the feedback provided to them regarding this item and moved to have this item brought back to them in January (January 5, 2017) with a number of different options.

Recent State legislation (SB 415) requires cities, counties, school districts and other special districts' elections be held in conjunction with statewide elections, i.e., November or June of even-numbered years if the agency’s voter turnout for its current election date is at least 25 percent lower than its average turnout for the four previous statewide general elections (Nov. 2014, 2012, 2010, 2008). Such is the case for Brisbane, where the City Clerk, in consultation with the County Registrar of Voters, has determined that indeed there has been a significant decrease in voter turnout when the voter turnout in November 2015 (48%) is compared to the average voter turnout in the previous four statewide general elections (71%). There was a 32% decrease in voter turnout: 71 – 48 = 23/71 = 32%.

Currently, Brisbane City Council elections are held in November of odd-numbered years. On December 8th, the Brisbane City Council will consider Ordinance No. 614 that would change the year at which City Council elections would be held to even-numbered years, but still in November. By reason of this change to even-numbered years, the term of office for three current Councilmembers would be extended by one year, from 2017 to 2018, and from 2019 to 2020 for two other Councilmembers. Thereafter, each person elected to the City Council would serve a term of four years and the city will have complied with State law by the November 8, 2022 statewide election and deadline. For more information, read the staff report from City Attorney Michael Roush, which will be made available on the December 8, 2016 meeting agenda page at least 72 hours prior to the 12/8 Council meeting.

The City of Brisbane receives 100% of its water from the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System, operated by the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission. The source of the water is over 150 miles away, and the water is routed through a complex system of pipes, storage facilities and treatment plants. When SFPUC conducts operational changes in their system (e.g., maintenance on a pipeline segment, or switching the source water from direct Hetch Hetchy water to the local lakes such as Crystal Springs) the chemistry of that water changes, and this can result in a different taste and smell profile until users are accustomed to the “new” water.

Last month, an SFPUC operational change resulted in some people in SSF, SF and Brisbane reporting water that had a smell slightly of tar or asphalt. (see November posts on this website for further details)

Within the last few days, some customers within the region are reporting an “earthy/musty” taste to their water. SFPUC has provided information here regarding the reason for that change: http://bit.ly/2h7huL0

There are two notes we would like to highlight on both occurrences. First, City staff works closely with SFPUC when we become aware of these issues; we can confirm that SFPUC reports that the water has continuously met or exceeded all regulatory requirements, and is safe to drink. Second, the fastest way for city staff to become aware of any concerns regarding water quality is to contact us directly at (415) 508-2130.

We will provide updates on this current situation as they are provided to us by SFPUC, and we are also planning a detailed STAR article to provide additional details on the challenges and complexity of continuously providing drinking water that meets all state and federal requirements.